Is that a yes?
by ohyouknow88
Summary: Aang has a problem, but the solution isnt as easy as he first thought. He wants to ask Katara to marry him, but is too nervous. So what does he do? What do his friends do to help? one-shot. i'm terrible with summaries and titles! Please, read and review.


**So, i dont have a knack for titles that make any sense to the story most of the time. I've been working on this one for the past few days, so i hope there arent too many mistakes in it. (forgotten bits or spelling and what not that i usually miss). Oh well. I honestly dont know why i made Toph so irritated in this one...she just isnt in the mood to be a nice person during this i guess. **

* * *

"Aang, now isn't the best time for this," Toph said. She had been busy with her own things, but suddenly the airhead needed help and she knew it would be hard to get rid of him unless she flat out refused.

"Please?" he asked, giving her a puppy dog look. She rolled her eyes, knowing what he was trying, and wondered how long it would take for any of them to remember the simple fact that she was blind.

"No!"

"But-," Aang began, but Toph put her hand in front of his face to stop him.

"If it's such a big deal, just ask her. Better yet, ask Sokka. I'm sure he'd love to help. I'll be there for dinner, but you're on your own."

Aang just sighed and walked away from the blind earthbender. So much for getting her help. The twenty-two year old made his way down some streets to Sokka's house. He didn't think Sokka would, or even could be any help with this. Still, he was going to invite Sokka and Katara to the island, which had just become officially, completely complete.

Republic City was finally up and running, with people from all around the world living together peacefully. Sort of. Toph was working out some kinks in the law enforcement division, and some arguments have taken place, but nothing major. And Air Temple Island was finished and Acolyte friendly.

Toph had moved to Republic City just recently and had taken the position as chief of the metalbending police. With the officers specially picked and trained by her, crime was almost nonexistent. Sokka was to be the Southern Water Tribe Representative on the council and had been in the city since Aang had told him about it. Katara traveled wherever Aang did, and was staying with Sokka for the time being. And Aang, well, he had a problem.

It wasn't so much of a problem as trying to figure out how to go about the solution. He had been living on Air Temple Island for a while now, designing and building everything, mostly by himself. Katara had been there every step of the way, and insisted that she be there to help, but Aang had overseen everything and Katara wasn't able to help as much as she had hoped. He wanted it that way, and insisted she not help with the final projects, but leave it to the new Air Acolytes, who were devoted to helping Aang and keeping the Air Nomad way of life traditional, even though their help wasn't needed and Aang still did most by himself.

Before Aang could knock on the door to Sokka's house, it swung open, hitting him in the forehead. He backed up a few steps with his hand on his head, but was engulfed in a hug not a second later. Katara apologized and let go of him, kissing him on the cheek and moving a few more steps out the door.

He couldn't help but stare at her for a minute. She was dressed in an outfit fit for the cold weather that had blanketed Republic City for the past week. He loved the way she looked in anything, but seeing her with the puffy jacket and hair braided reminded him so much of when he first met her that he was silent.

"Sokka's inside. I have to go help Toph with something. Will you stay here until I get back?" She asked, slowly walking backwards.

"No, I-," Aang began, but was cut off by Katara.

"Oh, that's okay. I'll talk to you later then," and she turned around completely, walking quickly the way he had come.

"Uh," Aang began, but suddenly Sokka was at the door, demanding to know why Katara hadn't shut it, when he saw Aang.

"Aang, it's good to see you. I thought you were still working on the island. I see you didn't come to talk to Katara, so I'm guessing you want to talk to me," he said, glancing at a retreating Katara.

"Well, I wanted to talk to both of you, but I did need to ask you something," Aang said, shyly rubbing the back of his neck.

"In that case, come inside," he said, moving so the airbender could enter. Once they were inside, Sokka closed the door. The house was two stories, with a small living room, bathroom, and kitchen on the first floor, and bedrooms on the second. It didn't bother any of them that they didn't live in the lap of luxury so the house was decorated rather simply, but Sokka did insist on having at least two spare rooms. "What can I do for you?" he finally asked.

"Well, umm, it's about Katara," he began. He reached into his robes and pulled out a necklace, "I want to ask her to marry me."

Sokka rubbed his eyes and reached for the necklace, which Aang readily handed over. He looked up at Aang for another second before admiring all the detail that must've taken months to finish. Sokka recognized the design as the Air Nomad and the Water Tribe symbols, which were laced together seamlessly. The piece was blue like Katara's other necklace, but had an orange-yellow streak swirling through the center. "How long have you been working on this?"

"Well," Aang rubbed the back of his head, blushing, "Do you remember when we went to the fortuneteller while we were traveling?"

"Yeah, but you were twelve!" Sokka cried, "You started making the necklace that long ago? That's so messed up!"

"No, no, no," Aang replied, taking the necklace back and putting it back in the tiny pocket in his robes, "I had the idea then, but I didn't start until earlier this year."

"What did Aunt Wu have to do with it?" Sokka curiously asked. He didn't mind the thought of Aang being his brother-in-law since Katara seemed happy, but Aang was looking pretty nervous.

"I kind of eavesdropped on their conversation and heard she was going to marry a very powerful bender, and Aunt Wu told me to listen to my heart, and I think now is the right time," he replied.

"So, how long have you been working on it?" Sokka asked again, ignoring Aang for a minute.

"It's been around six months," Aang shrugged.

"Why have you waited until now to bother asking?" Sokka scoffed, "She probably would have said yes if you asked her when you turned sixteen, maybe even before then. Wait, is that why you haven't let her stay on the island with you?"

"Yes," Aang said, sorting out his questions, "That is why she hasn't been on the island, partially, though I really didn't want her to find the necklace, I figured she would want to wait a few more years so I didn't ask her before, you probably would have killed me if I asked before I was at least sixteen, and now the island seems empty."

"Empty how? You have plenty of those Air people running around right? To keep your traditions and such? And didn't you just find that herd of bison? Plus, there are a bunch of lemurs aren't there?"

"Yes, everything's there, it's just…" Aang searched his mind for the words, "None of them is Katara. I want her to live on the island…with me."

Sokka smiled a little and gave him a pat on the shoulder, "Good luck asking her, and don't be worried. She'd say yes if you asked her right now, with or without a necklace. But what else were you here for?"

"Oh, yeah. Since everything is finished, I was wondering if you and Katara would come by the island tonight. There's going to be a huge dinner party with the Acolytes and friends. I already invited Toph."

Sokka scratched his chin, which was starting to sport a small goatee, "Will there be meat? Or is it one of those vegetarian things?"

Aang sighed, "I'll make sure there'll be plenty of meat for you. It probably won't help the Acolytes adjust though. Some are just starting to not eat meat, and others don't like even looking at it. This'll be the only time meat is allowed on the island."

"Great. I'll see you there then. Oh, and Aang?" Sokka said as Aang turned towards the door, a goodbye on his lips.

"Yeah?" he asked, stopping in his tracks.

"If I don't hear good news by tonight, you're dead," Sokka said, sounding more serious than Aang thought possible. He just gulped and nodded, opening the door and saying goodbye before colliding with Katara again.

"We've really got to stop doing that," she said with a laugh. "I thought you said you wouldn't be here."

"I wasn't going to stay so long, but I was talking to Sokka," Aang managed to say. He could feel his face turn red as he looked at Katara, who was completely oblivious. "There's going to be a big celebration at the island tonight since everything's pretty much finished."

"Oh," she sounded a little disappointed for some reason.

"But, there is one thing I needed help with, and I think you might be the only one that can help me," He continued. She started smiling again, but he put up a hand to stop her from saying anything. "We'll have to do it before dark. Do you want to go right now?"

"That sounds much better than listening to my brother's horrible jokes," she said looking up at him. In the past few years, he had grown to be a few inches taller than her no matter how tall she was. Of course, neither minded. "I just need to talk to Sokka for a second."

Aang took out his bison whistle and soon after he blew into it, Appa landed in the middle of the street. He gave a content grunt and Aang picked up Katara, who had returned and stood next to Aang, and jumped into the saddle, setting her down before moving to Appa's head and taking the reins. "Air Temple Island, here we come. Yip Yip!"

* * *

Katara looked over the saddle at the island below her, instantly losing her breath at its beauty. She had seen it before, but not since before it was finished. She had even stood along the bay to get a glimpse of the progress, though it was nothing like actually being there. Everything was vibrant and beautiful. She could tell everything had been influenced by the different Air Temples. Before she knew what was happening, Aang had picked her up and jumped off of Appa, who had barely started his descent.

She screamed on the way down, but she could hear Aang's laughter and saw he was letting go of her to open his glider. He flew below her and she grabbed onto the glider with both hands. Soon enough they were both gliding onto the beach, Appa headed towards the caves on the other side of the island.

"Let go!" Aang yelled at Katara, who was only just able to hear over her screaming, but she held on for too long and Aang had to take action. They were only a few feet above the water, so he flipped the glider upside down and Katara released her hold on the glider and dropped into the cold salty beach water. She let out a sound of disgust as Aang fell in next to her.

"What was that for?" She laughed, spitting out salt water.

Aang smiled and shrugged, "I told you to let go didn't I? I just overshot the beach and here we are."

"Okay," Katara said, using water bending get the water off her once they were on the beach, "So, where is here?"

"I'm not sure exactly. We need to get to the temple first though. Care to walk along the beach until we find the stairs?" He asked.

"Sure, but what do we need to do at the temple? It looked perfect when we flew over it. And why didn't you just have Appa drop us off there?"

Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I kinda thought you would want to see everything, so I was going to take you on a short tour first."

"Oh. Okay," Katara said, putting a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "Let's get started then."

"Great," Aang said, a little too enthusiastically. He was getting more and more nervous, if possible, and he only had a few hours before the celebration began. He started walking, but stopped to waterbend the freezing water off his clothes. Katara laughed a little before asking if he was okay. "Never better. I'm just excited for the umm…celebration! That's it. So, yeah. Nothing wrong here. Just…excited."

Katara raised an eyebrow at his hurried response, but followed him down the beach. As they went, he pointed out some parts of the island that Katara had never noticed. She hardly paid any attention to what he was pointing at, but was too preoccupied with wondering why he seemed so nervous. She recognized some of different areas, like the meditation pavilion, dormitories, and bison caves, but the temple was new to her. Aang hadn't allowed her to stay while he was working on it, so all she had seen of it was from the edge of the bay. Aang, however, didn't seem interested in going straight there.

Aang picked a moon peach from the greenhouse and handed it to Katara before grabbing one for himself. Before he could take a bite though, one of the ring-tailed lemurs flew at him and landed on his shoulder, taking it and chirping angrily in Aang's ear before flying to a nearby tree to eat. Katara laughed, but the lemur came back for her peach once it had finished and flew off without a trace, leaving a baffled Aang. "I thought I fixed that hole," he said, walking to the other side of the greenhouse to look around.

"What's the problem?" Katara asked, picking another peach before biting into it and savoring the flavor, "The lemurs think you're doing a great job with this place, so you must be."

"The problem is that somehow that lemur keeps getting in here and he's impossible to catch! Plus, he eats all the good peaches," Aang complained before leaping into one of the trees to look for the peach thief.

Katara laughed. She rolled her eyes as she saw Aang swing from one tree to the next, moving quickly with his airbending, but not fast enough to catch so much as a glimpse of the ringed tail winged lemur.

"Apparently, Avatar, you have a lot to learn," Katara said as she held out her half eaten peach. Aang turned to face her, a smart remark on his lips, but it was quickly expunged when he saw the thief sitting on her arm, nibbling away at the fruit.

"But," Aang said, matter-of-factly from his perch, raising his finger for emphasis, "I have the best teacher. I love you."

Katara smiled as Aang floated down next to her to give her a kiss, completely ignoring the chirping of the lemur, which had moved to sit on his head, wrapping his tail around Aang's neck for support. Katara smiled into the kiss. She loved him more and more every time he said it. She would have said it back, but one of the older Acolytes walked by with a basket, most likely picking fruit for the party, saw them, and muttered an apology before turning to leave.

"It's okay," Aang remarked, with a smile, "We were just getting this lemur out of here so there would be enough fruit for later." He scratched behind the lemur's ear and it chirped before moving to his shoulder. The Acolyte gave a simple nod before he moved to a few different trees and picked some of the lower fruit, muttering something about young love.

"Well, I guess we should leave before this little guy flies off and we have to give him another peach," Katara said, her face a little red. Aang nodded and they headed towards the temple. Once they stood in front of it, and the lemur had flown off, Katara asked, "So, what exactly do you need my help with?"

"Okay," Aang said smugly, "I actually lied about needing your help. I just wanted you to come to the island."

Katara narrowed her eyes at the young airbender. He seemed more comfortable than before for some reason, but that wasn't what she was curious about. She was wondering what he was trying to pull on her. "Oh, I see," Katara said, rolling her eyes, "You just wanted me to come so I could see all of your hard work."

"Umm…" Aang began, not sure where this was going, "Sure?" Katara narrowed her eyes again. "I mean…I did have you come early for a reason, it just wasn't to help. The island is finished. But I do have a question, if you are willing to answer it."

"Okay. What's the question?" Katara asked irritably.

"Uh, well, I need to ask you…" Aang began, reaching into his robe, then making an indescribably horrified face before quickly pulling his hand back, "I wanted to ask you if you, uh, thought I should…umm…grow a beard?" He gave a sheepish smile and Katara burst into laughter.

"Really? You dragged me all the way here to ask if I thought you should grow a beard. Has Sokka gotten to you?"

"No. I've just been thinking about growing a beard," Aang nervously replied, stroking his jaw line for effect. "What do you think?"

"Sure. You would look very handsome with a beard. But you should wait a couple more years."

"Um…okay then. I'll wait to grow a beard…Hey look, Toph and Sokka are here already!" Aang quickly said, pointing to the dock, where the blind earthbender had just reached the stairs and was looking as irritated as can be with Sokka walking behind her.

"Hey Twinkle toes! Did you ask her yet?" Toph yelled from below, and Aang sighed before Sokka came to the rescue, nudging Toph's shoulder with his elbow. She punched his arm, but otherwise got the message.

"Yeah, did you ask her if she was going to eat any meat tonight? I would like to know who I have to share with!"

"I guess I forgot about meat…" Aang said, turning back to Katara, "Did you want any meat for dinner, because I have to make sure there's some for Sokka, but otherwise everything came from the greenhouse."

Katara looked thoughtful for a second before she said, "I'm fine without meat."

Aang smiled, and by that time, Toph and Sokka were standing next to them so Aang hurriedly asked Sokka if he could speak to him in private, to which he obliged. Toph stayed and talked to Katara for a while as Sokka and Aang went around the side of the temple.

"Did you ask her yet?" Sokka asked.

"Well, I lost the necklace, so no."

"What! Where is it?" Sokka asked in a hurry.

"Didn't you hear me? I have no idea! I was going to ask her a minute ago, but I can't find the necklace and I sounded stupid when I asked what she thought about me growing a beard!" Aang huffed out as Sokka snickered.

"You grow a beard? Now I've heard everything!" He laughed.

"This isn't a joke Sokka! Okay the beard thing was kind of, eh," he shrugged his shoulders, "But I need to find that necklace!"

Sokka was trying not to laugh anymore, but he was still smiling when he said, "Just ask. She won't care if you don't have a necklace. It's a Water Tribe tradition. You were an Air Nomad last I heard. Do whatever you monks do! Climb a mountain, meditate, or give her a moon peach or something if you feel like you need to. Just ask her or die."

Aang thought for a second, "That's it! Sokka you're a genius!"

"Thanks. I try. Why am I a genius though? Are you really going to give her one of those vegetables? Bleh."

"It's a fruit Sokka. And, you're a genius because I was in the greenhouse earlier with Katara. I might've lost it there. I need you to keep your sister busy while I go look. Okay? Thanks. Bye!" Aang said, hurrying off in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka said, headed back to the front of the temple, where Katara was looking rather confused. "What happened?"

"I was talking to Toph, but Aang showed up and pulled her away without a very good explanation."

Sokka shrugged, "Maybe he needed to talk to her. So, can you please direct me to the kitchen? I need to talk to some Air people about dinner."

"They're Acolytes, Sokka," Katara said, leading him to the dining pavilion.

* * *

"Can you feel anything Toph?" Aang asked while looking through the trees he had been climbing through before.

"No Twinkle toes. I don't feel you're little necklace anywhere," Toph returned. She was currently leaning against a tree with her arms crossed and a smug expression on her face. "Why don't you just ask her and get it over with? Make her a new necklace later."

Aang poked his head out from between a few branches and was about to say something when he spotted the lemur from earlier on one of the nearby branches. "You again? You don't just happen to know where my necklace is? Do you?" He asked, catching the lemur's attention. It tilted its head in response.

"I just said I didn't know where it was!" Toph almost yelled at him.

"I was talking to the lemur that's sitting right-never mind. Sorry Toph."

"Whatever Twinkle toes. Can I go back now?"

"No. I need to catch this lemur and look on the beach."

"Hurry up then! Don't just sit there. The party's gonna start soon!"

"Right," Aang said before picking a lychee nut from the tree he was in and showing the lemur. "Want a lychee nut little guy?"

"While you're at it, can you give me one?" Toph asked from below. The lemur flew to Aang's shoulder and Aang picked a second one for Toph. He tossed it down to her, but it hit her in the head and she was left rubbing the sore spot. "Do I have to wear a sign that says I'm blind? How long is it going to take for you to get that!"

"Sorry about that Toph. It's just easy to forget," He said, picking up the nut and handing it to her, "Let's just go down to the beach now."

"Whatever," Toph grumbled, taking a bite of the fruit and wondering how she could get revenge. She could hear that the chatty lemur had flown off again, but she didn't sense where it landed. She followed Aang down the stairs and along the beach until Aang stopped to look around.

"It was somewhere around-," Aang suddenly thought of something, "What if it fell in the ocean? I'll never find it!"

"Calm down Twinkle toes. What exactly did you do with it?" Toph asked as calmly as she could.

"Well, I showed Sokka. Then, I put it back in my pocket. Then, I brought Katara to the island, and we walked around for a while."

"And it isn't in your pocket?" Toph asked, rolling her eyes.

"No."

"Have you looked?"

"No Toph. I didn't look where I remembered putting it. I just magically knew it disappeared," Aang replied sarcastically.

"You only have one pocket?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well-," Aang began, and then thought for a second, "no. I have two actually."

"Did you check in both of them?" Toph asked, giving her signature smirk.

Aang reached back into his robe and felt through both pockets, hitting a small round object and pulling it out to see. He instantly turned red and muttered, "Found it. Thanks Toph."

"Yeah yeah, glad to help. Now, ask her! Or I will help Snoozles beat you to a pulp."

"Umm. Yeah. I'll do it…in a few minutes," Aang said, getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was too nervous now that he found the necklace and he didn't know if he could even look at Katara without fainting or throwing up. He didn't want to do either, but the pressure from Sokka and Toph only made it worse, even though he knew they were kidding, or at least Sokka was. He took a deep breath and looked back at Toph, who was still smirking. "What?"

"Nothing," she said before earthbending the sand around him to harden and hold him in place, so he couldn't move. He was still holding the necklace in his hand, which Toph left uncovered, and he looked stunned for a second before trying to pull himself free. She turned her head and yelled as loud as she could, "Hey Sugar Queen! Aang needs to ask you something!"

"Toph! What are you doing? I can't move!" Aang frantically said, trying to no avail to move his arms and legs.

"That's the point. It's also payback for the lychee nut and wasting my time! I'm on a roll! Have fun!" She remarked happily as Aang struggled. "Don't come to dinner if you don't ask her, though."

"I don't know if I'll even be able to get out of here!" Aang yelled, but a laughing Toph was already halfway down the beach and a smiling but confused Katara was walking towards him.

"What did you need and why did Toph do that to you?" Katara asked, not even trying to hide her smile or giggles.

"Well, umm, you see, I was just umm, going to ask you, umm, something, but she, uh, did this, and umm, I uh-," Katara put up a hand to stop his rambling and asked a question that Aang had been dreading.

"What's in your hand?"

"Oh, umm nothing…" Aang replied, but Katara noticed how nervous he was and just had to see. She had to pry open his closed hand finger by finger, but she was eventually rewarded with the sight of the little blue and orange pendant attached to a black band.

Katara stared at it for a long time, while Aang was trying his hardest to explain what had happened. She eventually tore her eyes away from it and looked into Aang's pure grey eyes. She instantly knew why he had been nervous and sighed in relief, but was suddenly crying.

"…but I was going to ask you if you want to marry me and live here on the island with me…Katara? Why are you crying?" He thought for a second, and seeing a tear fall down her cheek, began to panic even more, "Katara, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

He was suddenly silenced when her lips pressed against his and his heart leapt in his chest, but Katara pulled away and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Of course I'll marry you Aang. I was beginning to think I would have to become an Acolyte so I could live here. "

"That's great!" Aang smiled from ear to ear. His heart was racing and he couldn't tell if his knees were wobbling, but he guessed they were, and all he wanted to do was kiss Katara. When he suddenly tried to move, he found he was still stuck in place. "Um…Katara?"

"Yeah?" She asked, a smile just as big across her face. Her eyes were still shining with tears, but she already knew what he was going to ask next and was close to laughter at the sight of him struggling.

"Can you help me out of here?" Aang was still trying to move, but Toph's restraints held him in place.

Katara simply took the necklace out of his hand to examine it further before replying, "But I'm a waterbender. Do you want me to try to erode the sand away from you?"

"That sounds pretty good," he said with a hopeful smile, but Katara just shrugged.

"No thanks."

"What? Why not?" Aang asked, his smile suddenly gone.

"Because I think you're fine right where you are," she replied, kissing him like she never had before.

* * *

"Did he ask yet?"

"Yep."

"So?"

"We can't kill him," Toph said, setting her cup beside her on the table.

"When are you going to let him out of the sand?"

"Whenever Katara asks. Twinkle toes might be there a while, though."

"Why's that?"

"Don't ask," Toph said, putting her feet on the wooden table so she wouldn't have to "see" them, "They make me sick."

"Oogies, right?" Sokka asked, slightly sympathetic that Toph could sense them from across the island.

"Definitely."

* * *

**So, Aang grew a beard and they got married and lived happily ever after, i guess. Sokka also hasnt gotten over his oogie problem yet. Anyways, tell me what ya think. I'm not used to the whole writing lovey-dovey stuff so this is new territory. even if it's just a little, still more than normal. Just review please. it makes me smile, and i love critisism.**


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